Willes' Musings: A few good men deserve another chance with the Leos

B.C. Lions head coach Mike Benevides pauses for a moment during a news conference at the teams practice facility in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014.THE CANADIAN PRESS
/ Jonathan Hayward

Travis Lulay apparently tweaked his shoulder in the warm-up for the biggest game of the season Sunday. The Lions can’t put all their eggs in that fragile basket next season. — THE CANADIAN PRESS filesJONATHAN HAYWARD
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

It might be a first, but the B.C. Lions actually went to Montreal over the weekend and had a miserable time. We hope this makes everyone a little happier, a special all-Lions edition of the musings and meditations on the world of sports.

— The mob wants blood, and given the way the B.C. Lions season ended on Sunday, someone will have to pay with their job.

But if anyone thinks this means a regime change in the Lions den, they simply don’t understand the way the organization works under David Braley.

Braley might have his faults but a lack of loyalty isn’t one of them. When he assesses the Lions, he won’t look at the 2014 season when just about everything that could go wrong did. He’ll look at the last decade-plus under Wally Buono and conclude this season was a one-off.

Buono will be back. The next question revolves around head coach Mike Benevides, and that might be a little more complicated.

Buono didn’t say unequivocally that Benevides would return for 2015 but the coach is the GM’s hand-picked successor and he went 13-5 and 11-7 before things went south this year.

The injuries to Travis Lulay, Andrew Harris, Courtney Taylor and others don’t give Benevides a free pass. But it buys him at least until the start of next year to prove he can turn things around.

The other dynamic in play, of course, is the relationship between the two men. Benevides said on Monday there’s no confusion between where the GM’s job ends and the coach’s job begins. Others aren’t as sure because there’s a perception that Buono’s presence suppresses both Benevides’ voice and his authority.

When Buono was asked about that on Monday, he said: “If I cast a big shadow it’s not my fault. My whole intent is to give this team the support it needs.”

And: “The toughest road to follow is someone who’s had success.”

OK.

Whatever it is, this situation has to be clarified with Benevides or the new man. As things stand, what established coach would sign with the Lions knowing he has Buono looking over his shoulder?

One other factor to keep in mind: The contracts of Buono, Benevides and team president Dennis Skulsky all expire at the end of the 2016 season. It’s just another reason there likely won’t be seismic changes this off-season.

— Speaking of which, there’s only one coaching candidate who makes sense if they’re looking to shake things up: Stampeders offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson. Dickenson is a game-changer. Dickenson is someone you break out of your comfort zone to hire.

Bit it remains to be seen, a) if he’d leave Calgary for Vancouver, b) if he’d work for Buono, and c) how much he’d cost, but there’s only one way to find out.

— The official explanation is Travis Lulay tweaked something in his now-famous right shoulder during the warm-up for Sunday’s playoff game and, according to Benevides, “He wouldn’t have helped us.”

This development, to put it mildly, is unsettling. There was a moment in the second quarter, when the score was still close, which cried out for Lulay. All week the team had reported he’d be available. On Saturday, Lulay said he could play without any limitations.

Then, in the Lions’ biggest game of the season, he hurt himself while warming up? Sorry if we have a hard time suspending our sense of disbelief over that one.

Still, whatever the case, it speaks about Lulay’s fragility and the difficult situation it creates for the Lions going forward. Lulay is a quality player and a quality person but, at the risk of stating the obvious, he can’t be the only viable option at quarterback next season.

It was also telling when Buono was asked about who the Lions’ starter would be in 2015.

“Right now, I can’t tell you,” he said.

One name to keep in mind is Jordan Rodgers, Aaron’s kid brother who signed with the Lions in October. Rodgers is 26 and started for the better part of two seasons at Vanderbilt. Buono, as it happens, has a long and distinguished history of developing quarterbacks. You just get the feeling Rodgers is going to have an impact on next year’s team.

— Finally, Buono was asked which of his off-season decisions will be the most difficult.

“All of them,” he answered, “because they all involve people.”

It the age of Twitter and talk radio, we’d all do well to remember that. Everyone, from Buono to Benevides to offensive co-ordinator Khari Jones to Kevin Glenn understands the way professional sports works and understands they’re expendable. But these are good men, character men. The Lions’ lack of success this season doesn’t change that.

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